st valentine and his cadillac dream

Hey blog-o-friends. We've been on a never-ending carousel of colds and stomach flus and winter blerghs around here BUT it's past the middle of February! Spring is in sight! Lucy's hacking cough is gone, gone with the wind! And I finally got the root canal that I've been putting off for the better part of a year (because who wants a root canal???).

Bottom line, we still have a delectably scrumptious ball of fun who loves to assert her opinion about clothing ("No! No! No! No!" unless the clothing involves pandas, flowers, or cherries) and just about anything else. Indulge me for a moment, I don't want to forget some of the charming (and less charming) things that she's doing now at 17 months, so here's what makes Lucia ridiculously, deliriously happy at the moment:

• Raisins. We have never seen her voluntarily stop eating these things.
• Her hippo ("Hippo? Hippo? Hippo?" is a frequent mantra)
• Climbing onto a step stool and proclaiming "TALL!!!!!!!!!"
• Bagels with cream cheese.
• Her giant orange bouncy ball
• Dance parties involving the Arcade Fire (or Neko Case. or the Jackson Five.)
• Reading books. Over and over and over and over. Exhibit A:
  

• 
• Playing in the snow:
• Fingerpainting. Or gluing. Or playing with play dough. Or eating crayons.
• These pants (MADE ESPECIALLY BY ME!!!! MY SEWING SKILLS ARE OUTTA CONTROL!!!!). Truthfully, she doesn't really care about them one way or the other, but they are still making the blog. Please enjoy her catwalk skills:
• Playing ring around the rosy.
• Unloading the dishwasher/grocery bag/laundry basket.
• LOADING the dishwasher/groceries/laundry.
• Pretending to feed various stuffed animals.
  
• About a million more things.
  

There are also many things that bring wailing, gnashing of teeth, tantrums galore, and battles of will... to name a few: getting her diaper changed, eating anything she doesn't FEEL like eating at any given moment, sun in her eyes, sharing. That last one is a killer!

Also, being sick. None of us are big fans of that. Here's a sad sick face (that we have seen too much of over the last few weeks):

Big love from all of us in the Garrett house! And hasten the coming spring!